J.J. Abrams Says That William Shatner Will Likely Never Be Part Of The New ‘Star Trek’ Films

Leonard Nimoy appeared in both prior ‘Star Trek’ movies, reprising his role of Spock from the traditional ‘Trek’ universe (He is now referred to as Spock Prime). He even delivered the famous “Space… the final frontier” monologue at the end of the first movie– a narration usually voiced by William Shatner‘s Captain Kirk. The was a bit jarring but still fitting since Nimoy appeared in a role that seemingly symbolized the passing of the torch from his generation to this new one.

But fans have wondered if Shatner’s Kirk would ever pop up in a cameo in one of the new films. Unfortunately, according to franchise producer J.J. Abrams, it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen.

“Obviously it’s Star Trek, nearly anything is possible. There’s the fairly simple notion that on the day Kirk was born another timeline began. But in the other timeline, Kirk died onscreen (in Generations). I don’t know how he would come back unless we went into this other reality and we did a timeline and reality jump.

“In all the years we’ve been working on this, I’ve yet to hear a pitch that didn’t sound too contorted and contrived for an audience to swallow. And I’ve talked to him (Shatner) about it. If Kirk had lived there’d be an answer. But there’s something about his having died that makes it impossible.”

For those unfamiliar (or that have forgotten) Shatner made his farewell turn as Kirk in the PREVIOUS passing of the torch, 1994’s ‘Star Trek Generations’ which saw the cast of the TV show ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ taking over the film franchise from the aging stars of the 1960s series. In the film, Kirk was killed off with Jean Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) stepping up as the only Captain of the cinematic Enterprise.

And perhaps it’s for the best that the stars of the original version step aside and let the new cast have their moment.

Are you disappointed that Shatner will never likely appear as Kirk in a ‘Star Trek’ film?

Jax Motes

Jax's earliest memory is of watching 'Batman,' followed shortly by a memory of playing Batman & Robin with a friend, which entailed running outside in just their underwear and towels as capes. When adults told them they couldn't run around outside in their underwear, both boys promptly whipped theirs off and ran around in just capes.

So what, Captain Cadet doesn’t age? Future Pine. Wouldn’t be the proper Kirk, but hey, neither is the one we have now so what’s the difference?

I lost all respect for the character when he was handed the keys to the Enterprise without even finishing the academy for god sake, or doing any of the hard work that proper Kirk did to deserve the position.